Chapter 279: if war comes tomorrow
But of course this task is not all that simple. After repelling the enemy, the troops have to get out of the car and search for the remnants.
This aspect is for the needs of railway safety. Otherwise, the armored train will lose its meaning if the front foot of the armored train just passes the enemy's back foot and then comes up to plant mines and explosives.
On the other hand, it is the sappers who have to get off the train to repair the railway.
Engineers need to work under the light source, which requires the combat troops to open a safe area around them, otherwise the engineers are easily blacked out by the German army.
This is also a small battle.
The railway engineers moved very quickly, removing the damaged rails and sleepers and replacing them with good ones. The whole process only took ten minutes.
The soldiers released after the construction of the engineers can return to the train, and they also bring a few German prisoners.
It's just that the soldiers looked a little strange when they came back, especially Antipunov, who was sweating profusely and kept chanting prayers with words.
"What's the situation?" Shulka asked the veteran.
The one who got out of the car just now to perform the mission is the platoon of veterans.
"They killed many civilians, Comrade Second Lieutenant!" The veteran raised his head towards the dark place on the left: "There is a forest there, and the corpses are hanging on the tree!"
"Mostly women, but also old people and children!" the actor added.
Shulka nodded and said nothing.
Such things are not uncommon for the German army, especially those German skirmishers are mostly SS special operations teams.
"How could they do this, Comrade Second Lieutenant!" Antipunov looked up at Shulka: "Those civilians, they have no weapons and will not pose a threat to anyone..."
"You have to ask those Germans, Comrade Antipunov!" Shulka shook his head at the German prisoner who was **** and thrown at the rear of the carriage.
Then Shulka ignored Antipunov, and he needed to digest these things by himself.
In fact, it's a miracle that someone like him is still alive.
This is mainly because tonight's battle was fought smoothly tactically and the third company basically did not fight the Germans hand-to-hand:
First, they attacked the bridgehead defense line. Although it was very dangerous, the entire attack was completed within a few minutes and the German army retreated quickly. The T34 tanks rushed ahead.
Then boarded the armored train, basically shooting from the inside of the car.
Therefore, Antipunov can survive until now even if he shoots in the sky, at most he wasted a few bullets.
If there is any accident, it is that on the north bank of the Volga River Bridge, a random bullet can hit a target... People say that novices who don't know how to play cards often have good luck, and it seems that this is true.
But if it is a hand-to-hand battle with the enemy face-to-face with a bayonet, it is almost impossible to survive if you still hold this idea of not killing people.
So Antipunov was lucky.
"Is everyone here?" Shulka asked.
"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant!" replied Pukarev, who was in charge of the count.
"Drive!" Shulka ordered: "Let's see what other frantic Franz stop us!"
The soldiers couldn't help laughing.
But at this moment, there were a few gunshots suddenly, and the soldiers raised their guns habitually, and then saw several German prisoners lying in a pool of blood, each of whom was shot in the head and fell to the ground.
"I said, no prisoners are allowed to be killed!" Seeing this, Shulka couldn't help being furious.
But Shulka lost his temper when he saw the shooter.
It was Antipunov. He was holding a rifle in his hand with a little smoke from the muzzle. He was staring blankly at the corpse on the ground.
Then, as if reacting suddenly, Antipunov walked up to Shulka and stood up and said, "Sorry, Comrade Second Lieutenant!"
"For murder?" Shulka asked.
"No, I violated your order and killed the captive!"
Shuerka smiled and replied: "It doesn't matter, anyway, we have plenty of prisoners!"
The soldiers let out a burst of laughter.
"Come on, Comrade Antipunov!" protested the actor: "Next time you do that, remember to take them out!"
There was another burst of laughter in the carriage.
The veteran even took out his wine bottle and raised it high, shouting: "Come on, comrades! Cheers to Antipunov becoming one of us!"
"cheers!"
…
After a few sips of wine, the soldiers sang "If the War Comes Tomorrow" amidst the "click" of the armored train.
Shulka didn’t know who wrote this song, but felt that the artistic conception of the lyrics was just like the Soviet Union at this time:
"If the war is tomorrow, if the enemy attacks
If the power of darkness suddenly descends
As one person, the entire Soviet people
For the free country—rise up!
…”
The armored train drove to Moscow in this song.
When the armored train entered Moscow, to the surprise of Shulka and others, the entire railway station boiled.
Although it was still dark because of the martial law, there was a lot of cheers.
It was only later that Shulka learned that the victory of the Fourth Tank Brigade in Tver had already spread throughout the streets and alleys on the broadcasts in Moscow, especially since Shulka and others also captured an armored train... Of course the Supreme Command did not Will pass up this rare opportunity to boost morale.
Therefore, when they learned that the armored train was about to return to Moscow, many people asked to be greeted at the train station.
Originally this was not allowed due to martial law, but this was "the enthusiasm of the people" and also an encouragement to the heroes, so the common people who applied were allowed to come and welcome them.
I didn't expect this to be troublesome.
The entire train station is crowded with people... If the German army bombs the train station at this time, it will undoubtedly cause a lot of casualties.
This made the entire Moscow air defense force nervous, and even all the Soviet air defense forces in the second line of defense received a combat alert.
Of course, part of this is to cover the retreat of the 32nd Army and the Fourth Tank Brigade.
As soon as Shuerka got out of the car, he felt a person flying towards him. In the darkness, he didn't even recognize who it was.
But Shulka soon knew who she was, because he saw the other party's boat-shaped military cap and major epaulettes.
"Varrasha!" Shulka hugged her excitedly and turned around.
"Nice to see you again, my hero!" Valrasha said, "I want to know, are you willing to accept my interview?"
"Of course!" Shulka replied.
For some reason, under the background of that atmosphere, or in the dark and crowded crowd, Shulka naturally kissed Valrasha's lips.
(end of this chapter)